Tennis ball



Ocnzz, 1935. EfE, HORNER 2,018,559

TENN I S BALL Filed June 30, 1933 a I A a 5 g lm-- v y A v 'y im im 7 Patented Oct. 22, 1935 UNITED: STATES TENNIS BALL Edward'Everett Horner, Eaton Rapids, Mich., as-

signor to Horner Brothers Woolen Mills, Eaton Rapids, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Application June 30, 1933, Serial No. 678,521

3 Claims. (Cl. 273-61) This invention relates to play balls, and particularly to the provision of an improved cover for a tennis ball, with a view of increasing theuseful playing. life of the ball in regular games 5 on grass, clay, macadam, or concrete courts.

The life of 'a tennis ball, for regular game play, is determined by the ability of the ball to retain roughness of surface against the abrasive action produced by contact with court and racket, for

the reason that, as the ball surface becomes worn desired rough surface on the tennis ball,V but, due

tothe nature of thewoven fabric, the extent to which the fabric may be napped is quite limited, thus, when the ball is put into play, the roughened surface formed by the nap wears off, down to the base fabric, producing a smooth surface I on the ball and making it unfit for regular play.

Another disadvantage attending the use of the rigid wovenfabric resides in the inability of such fabric to stretch uniformly and under even tension over the rubber ball forming the foundation of the tennis ball.

The present invention concerns a cover composed of knitted fabric which comprises main body yarns' or threads formed into interlooped courses and wales of stitches and supplementary threads, inlaid in or intermeshing with such stitches, which provides a fabric capable of being stretched, or of yielding uniformly, in all directions, whereby the cover will snugly fit and adhere to the rubber ball at all points on the surface thereof.

The knitted fabric is preferably composed, throughout, of woolen yarns and is treated under what is known in the woolen art as a fulling process, whereby the wool fibers of the main 'and supplementary yarns are caused totintermesh or' become entangled with each other in each stitch and with the fibers of the yarns in the stitches of adjacent courses and wales, such interentangling of the fibers extending completely through and over the entire area of the fabric lad providing a cover which will present a lroughened surface until the fabric is practically worn through to the underlyingrubber ball.

The said interentangling of the wool fibers, together with the`particular form of stitch employed, makes the knitted fabric cover substan- 5 tially revel-proof, whereby fraying of the cover at small cuts, produced in the cover by contact with small sharp stones, etc., on the court, is practically eliminated, whereas in the case of the woven fabric cover small cuts produced therein will permit` the fabric to ravel or fray at and around the cut, thus making the ball unfit for regular play. y

Comparative tests between balls having the conventional woven covers and balls having knitted fabric covers, made and applied in accordance with the principles of the present invention, with all other conditions being equal, have proven that the ball made according to the present invention is capable of a playing life substantially twice that of the ball having the woven cover, asa result of the above noted differences of structure in the covers of the two balls.

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 illustrates an outside view partly broken away, a ball made in accordance with the principles of the present invention;

Figs. 2 and 3, respectively, diagrammatically illustrate the opposite faces of the knitted fabric of which the cover is composed, as it comes from the knitting machine;

Fig. 4 diagrammatically illustrates a piece of fabric after undergoing the fulling process; and

Figg is a perspective'view of one ofthe cover 35 units of which two are used to completely cover the ball, as ushown in Fig. 1;

As shown in Figs. 2 and 3. the knitted fabric comprisesv substantially parallel stitch wales I, 2, 3, I, 5, etc. produced by the knitting of succes- 40 sive stitch courses 1, 8, 9, and I0, etc., wherein alternate stitches of each course, such as those in wales I', 3, 5,- etc., are formed of regular stitches composed of one thread II while the stitches of the intermediate wales 2, l, etc. in each course are formed of a second thread I2, the thread forming the regular stitch in each of Asaid wales l being formed into tuck stitches in the adjacent .course of stitches. 65

The provision of a regular and a superimposed tuck stitch in each course at each Wale provides a. revel-resisting construction which is further accentuated, duringthe fulling process, by the said interentangli'ng of the fibers of the threads Il, I2 and I3 throughout the fabric.

After fulling, units similar to that shown in Fig. 5 are cut from the fabric illustrated in Fig. 4'. Two of the units I5 are needed to produce a complete cover for theball, as in Fig. 1. The two units are then coated on one side with a suitable adhesive substance. preferably composed or including a high percentage of rubber, after which the foundation rubber ball I4 and the cover units I5, l5 are assembled in a suitable mold, with a filling substance I6, composed of rubber or rubber compound, in the joints between the adjacent edges of the two cover umts I5. The assembly is then subjected to a suitable vulcanizing process in which the units I 5 are integrally united to the underlying rubber ball I 4 and to each other along said edges through and -by the filled seams I6.

Dueto the ability of the knitted fabric to yield in all directions under substantially equal tensionat all points, the units l5 are readily changed from the fiat form-shown in Fig. 5 to the spherical i form of the underlying rubber foundation ball I4, whereby the cover snugly conforms to and maintains intimate contact with the surface of the rubber ball at all points, thereby providing a finished ball having substantially perfect balance.

While a particular form of stitch and thread =assembly is shown in Figs. 2 and 3, it will be quite obvious that other forms of stitches. or

other methods of interlooping the threads topmduce the cover fabric may be resorted to without departing from the essential features of the invention, and while the claims refer to a knitted fabric, the term knitted is used illustrativeiy to s distinguish from a woven fabric and is intended to be of a scope broad enough to include netted and similar fabrics, which for 'thepurposes of the invention may be a full equivalent for a knitted fabric of the type shown in Figs. 2 and 3. v l0 Y I claim:

1. The combination of a rubber ball, a cover composed of two` substantially similarly shaped half sections of knitted felted fabric stretched over the spherical surface of the ball in opposed i5 ball-enveloping relation to each other to conform to the shape of said surface, adhesive means for permanently securing-said half sections together, and to the spherical surface of the ball.

2. The combination of a rubberball, a cover 20 composed of two substantially similarly shapedl half sections of knitted felted fabric stretched over the spherical surface of the ball in-opposcd ball-envelopingrelation to each-other to conform to the shape of said surface, an adhesive 2: rubber substance for permanentlysecuring said half sections together. andv to the spherical surface of the ball by vulcanization of said'rubber substance.v

3. A spherical playing ball consisting of a nib- 304 ber body and a multi-piece cover formed of aplu rality of blanks cut from a plane sheet of knitted felt shaped upon and secured edge-to-edge in vulcanized union upon the ball surface. 15

EDWARD EVERET'I HIORNER.Y 

